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Microphones

Hi

So, yeah, I'm looking for a mic. Sadly, I don't know anything about them, so I've got a lot of questions.
Uses: Main reason I'm buying one is online gaming (tribes ascend pugs and probably some arma with rps. both of these use mumble), but I'd also like to be able to be creative with it when I want, because I might get into letsplaying or recording stuff and I want decent sound quality for that (I agree with the guy in the video, it should sound at least that good (if the prize allows it)).

Questions!
1. I've heard that a microphone may suit to one person and not to the other, since it's all very dependent on what kind of voice you have, and therefore you should test out different ones before purchasing one. Would you agree with that and consider it important?

2. Will I be able to get a well-sounding mic that I can just plug into my pc, maybe install some software, and then I'm good to go? Do I need additional power sources or other hardware?

3. Does high prize automatically mean good sound quality? Should I avoid those 5-euro logitech table mics that you see in stores, or will one of those absolutely do the job? My price cap is about 80-100€.

4. I'm currently using speakers to listen to things. Are headphones a must because the mic would pick up game sounds etc. otherwise?

I think that's it. Thanks in advance for any answers and recommendations.

edit: oh yeah, the push-to-talk thing. Is it something that comes with the mic and certain ones don't have it so I should take it into account as well when choosing one, or can I control that entirely on the software side if need be?

I'm no expert on this but PTT is generally a function of the software you're using to talk with and not the headset (tho some may have a button which will do that, you can assign one on the keyboard or mouse too usually)

Gaming = a headset for sure tho

If you're thinking of recording your voice for podcasts or other work, you might want to consider some sort of static mic with some sort of baffles/breath filters etc (the fuzzy things or meshes you see on radio hosts desks etc.) - you're talking about spending a LOT more money here but it's fully worthwhile for recording you and not your breathing, scratching, typing, farting etc. :)

Believe me - when you've just recorded 40 mins of chat and realise about half of it is unusable due to background crap you'll wish you'd spent that money - but just for in-game chitchat, choose a nice headset based on comfort and audio quality. All the popular choices have many online reviews and most can be tried on local PC stores etc.

I personally hate headsets, I've tried a bunch of them and they work inconsistently. I've had much better luck with a $20 logitech standing microphone. The base did get snapped a while back but it still records from the other side of the desk.

Sennheiser PC 350 have worked very well for me. The mic works better than any cheap table mic, and it's a lot more convenient to have it in the headset than on the table. And the sound, of course, is excellent. Unfortunately they're probably a bit too expensive here.

If you want to use your Micorphone for more 'professional' (meaning other stuff besides playing games and talking to people) things, I think the Microphone I saw being recommended the most was the Samson C01U. It's a USB-Microphone, costs about 80-100€ and does not require you to install any additional software. I bought it myself last summer and it's perfectly fine for me. I would recommend using headphones, if you want to record your voice while playing a game, otherwise it would definately pick up the sound from your speakers.

I've had tolerable (where tolerable is people don't go "In Satan's name, what kind of terrible microphone are you using?" in voice chat) performance out of the cheap Cosonic headset microphone, but I couldn't say if it would be good enough for presentation work.

Thanks for all the answers, guys. After much consideration and quite a bit of research I decided that I'll get a headset for gaming and any actual recording for the time being. My choice fell on the logitech g330. It's not the best one there is, but it is not too crappy as well, and I can actually get it somewhere (I've looked around and most stores in my vicinity hardly offer any (good) mics or headsets). Also I'm tired of looking/listening to bad reviews on the internet. Thanks again for your advices everyone, and feel free to derail/discuss further things.

edit: Guess what, the mic on it doesn't actually work. That's too bad, because it was quite comfortable.

edit2: Got the Plantronics gamecom 780 for fifty bucks. Not that comfortable, but mic and headphones are working well for that price.